MARLBOROUGH, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) Voters at the annual Marlborough School District meeting Tuesday night approved a $7,381,122 operating budget, amended the district’s proposed open enrollment plan and overwhelmingly supported a special education-related article during the nearly two-hour session in the Marlborough School gymnasium.

The budget represents a roughly 4 percent increase in school expenses next year. However, School Board Chair Jeffrey B. Miller said the local tax impact will be far greater due to declining state aid.

“Even though expenses are going up about 4 percent, it translates into about an 11 percent increase on the local tax rate,” Miller said. “State funding is going down fairly dramatically.”

Miller said the district is facing a $345,000 reduction in overall state funding. At the same time, special education costs are increasing by about $200,000, while the district’s state special education aid rose by just $44,000.

As in recent years, the bulk of the increase is tied to special education expenses, particularly high-cost placements needed to provide legally required services to students with significant needs.

“These are special situations,” Miller said. “To get care for those students they deserve, it’s costly.”

Petition Article on Education Freedom Accounts

Voters took up a petition article calling on state lawmakers to add stricter fiscal reporting and income eligibility limits to New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Account (EFA) voucher program.

Education Freedom Accounts allow eligible New Hampshire students to direct state funded per-pupil education adequacy grants toward select educational programming of their choice for a variety of learning experiences.

The article urges legislators to require the program to provide fiscal and educational performance reports comparable to public schools and to limit eligibility to families with demonstrated financial need. It also directs the district to send the results of the vote to the governor and local members of the General Court within 30 days.

Supporters of the petition article cited concerns about the projected $110 million statewide cost of the EFA program over the next two years and its potential impact on local property taxes.

The article was approved with little opposition.

Open Enrollment Amended

Voters also considered whether to adopt New Hampshire’s open enrollment law under RSA 194-D. The original warrant article would have allowed up to 10 out-of-district students to attend Marlborough School in grades K–8.

During the meeting, the article was amended to reduce that number from 10 students to just one.

Miller said the change was made out of concern that allowing too many incoming students could create financial or logistical strain and potentially shift costs among neighboring towns.

“We don’t want to place the same burden on other towns or pit town against town,” he said.

Under state law, districts must either adopt open enrollment with defined limits or risk paying tuition to other districts that do. The amended article passed, allowing the district to participate while strictly limiting incoming students. The article set the percentage of Marlborough students eligible to leave the district at zero percent, meaning the district will not allow resident students to transfer out under the program.

Estimated Taxes to Be Raised

According to the district’s budget summary filed with the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration, the total appropriations of $7,381,122, minus estimated revenues and credits of $1,026,924, leave an estimated $6,354,198 to be raised through local taxes.